WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic bid to open debate on repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay and lesbian soldiers from military service, possibly killing any chance for it to get passed in the current congressional session.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, called the vote without an agreement from any Republican senators to support the motion, ensuring it would fail.

The vote was 57-40 in favor of the cloture motion that required 60 votes to pass.

Washington (CNN) - Two-thirds of Americans say they favor repealing a law that bans openly gay and lesbian troops from serving in the U.S. military, according to a new national poll.

As Congress contemplates repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" measure, a Gallup survey released Thursday indicates that 67 percent of the public say they would vote for a law that would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces, with 28 percent saying they would vote against such a bill, and five percent unsure.FULL POST

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama did not attend a White House meeting Thursday with members of his own debt commission, irking some of the Democrats on the panel who were expecting a high-level push from the commander-in-chief to show that its comprehensive deficit reduction plan is being taken seriously by the White House.

"He should have at least dropped by," one Democratic member of the debt commission told CNN, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he wanted to speak more freely about the panel's private meeting.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Senate Democrats conceded Thursday they don't have the votes to pass the DREAM Act, a bill that would have offered a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children.

Democrats voted to pull the measure from consideration, a move that jeopardizes the chances for passing the hotly contested bill during the current lame-duck session of Congress that ends in early January.FULL STORY

WASHINGTON DC (CNN) - President Obama's departing top economic advisor Larry Summers hit back at Democratic critics accusing him of exaggerating the consequences of failing to pass the president's tax bill.

Summers surprised some lawmakers Wednesday when he warned Congress that not supporting the legislation could lead to a double-dip recession in 2011.FULL STORY

Washington (CNN) - A very vocal liberal critic of the White House says it is putting out a second television ad slamming President Barack Obama for caving in on the tax cut deal he made with congressional Republicans.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee announced Thursday that its going up with an ad that uses then-candidate Barack Obama's words from two and a half years ago against the president for now striking a deal that would extend Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Iowa GOP chairman Matthew Strawn, coming off a dominant election cycle for Republicans in the Hawkeye State, told CNN Thursday he will seek a second term as the party's leader.

The move positions Strawn as a central player in the 2012 Republican presidential nominating fight, which is slated to kick off in Feb. 2012 with Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses. Barring an unusually strong challenge from a libertarian or Tea Party-affiliated candidate, which seems unlikely given his winning record, Strawn appears all but certain to win a second term in January.FULL POST

(CNN) - The White House remains confident "that the major components" of a tax compromise struck by the president and Republicans will pass, a White House spokeswoman said Thursday. She spoke after House Democrats voted not to bring the tax package up for a vote in its current form.